‘We should be proud’: Kyle Schwarber looking forward to fourth postseason with Phillies

Kyle Schwarber knows what it's like to win a World Series.

In 2016, Schwarber was a member of the Chicago Cubs squad that snapped the franchise's 108-year championship drought after a dramatic seven-game series against the team now known as the Cleveland Guardians. He has chased that feeling in the nine years since, but he has yet to hoist the Commissioner's Trophy since his second big-league season.

Schwarber will get his fourth crack at winning a championship with the Philadelphia Phillies this fall, and he can't wait for the opportunity.

Schwarber believes Phillies 'should be proud of the baseball we've played' en route to NL East title

The Phillies became the first MLB team to clinch a divisional championship this season in the early hours of Tuesday morning (on the East Coast). They did so in dramatic fashion.

It took until the top of 10th inning of the Phillies' series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night for either team to drive in what would be the game-winning run. After Andy Pages knotted the score at five runs apiece in the bottom of the previous frame, JT Realmuto brought Harrison Bader home to score on a sacrifice fly he launched to deep right field.

The Phillies solidified the 6-5 win after veteran reliever David Robertson pitched a scoreless inning, forcing a flyout out of Miguel Rojas and groundouts out of Ben Rortvedt and Max Muncy.

The team's post-game celebrations in the locker room allowed Schwarber to reflect on his four full seasons with the Phillies, while also looking ahead at the their road to the World Series.

"I want to see where the hell we’re going to be at the end of this postseason," Schwarber said, via The Athletic's Matt Gelb. "We should be proud of the baseball we’ve played for the last three and a half years.

"Making the playoffs isn’t easy. Playing meaningful games in September, that’s not easy. Meaningful baseball games in the World Series, the NLCS and NLDS, that’s not easy. I feel like when you bring something that means a lot to a fan base and organization, that shouldn’t be taken for granted."

As far as the regular season goes, the Phillies' work is not yet done. The club needs to continue winning enough games to clinch a top-two seed in the National League, allowing it to bypass a three-game Wild Card series and enter the postseason in the Division Series.

But that doesn't mean Schwarber and the rest of his Phillies teammates can't celebrate at least a little bit after a long journey towards winning the team's second NL East title in a row.